Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are ramping up over here, and, at the risk of my parents finding out what I got them (I explicitly told them NOT to read this post), I wanted to share some of my gift ideas with you!!

I’ve always loved giving people gifts. I think I get that from my mother, because she is the queen of gift-giving. Seriously. I don’t know how she does it. Plus, this year has been a very big transitional year for me, and my parents have been incredibly supportive, so I wanted to make sure that I got them gifts that would reflect how grateful I am. So, I turned to one of my favorite brands; Fossil.

My aunt got me my first Fossil purse many many years ago as a sort of ‘designer purse rite-of-passage’, and the bag is still one of my favorite purses. Let me tell you, I am not super nice to my purses, but over years of ware and tear, it’s still in impeccable condition and one of the purses that I keep on regular rotation. Now, most of my bags and accessories are from Fossil. If it’s classic weekender bag, sturdy sunglasses, a dependable watch, or an amazingly chic purse you’re looking for, Fossil has you covered.

I should admit that I am not always on top of gift-giving, and often end up waiting until the very last minute. Usually this is because it takes me so long to land on the perfect gift to give someone (also because Christmas came up so fast this year!). But, luckily for me, the Fossil outlet store at Great Lakes Crossing is having a major sale right now, as in 60% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE STORE.

For Mom,

I knew right away when I saw this bag that it was going under the Christmas tree. The dark green emerald color is incredibly chic and I can see her being able to use it all year round (and green is her favorite). I know personally I gravitate toward the all-leather bags rather than the canvas and leather, and the gold trim is to die for.

Another thing that is really important to me is finding a gift that I know that the receiver will want to use. With that in mind, I know that my mom looks for purses with flat-bottoms, a secure zipper, lots of pockets and a long strap. Amazingly, this bag checked all the boxes! And I know that she’ll love it and get use out of it.

For Dad,

Dad is much harder to buy for. He tends to shy away from extravagant and frivolous gifts, so it was important for me to find him something practical. Initially I was going to find him a new wallet, but then I spotted this bag. The black canvas and the leather trim give this bag a very modern and masculine feel.

My dad has been carrying around a zipper portfolio and a big chunky black bag for as long as I can remember. I think he considers them to be professional, and he is more focused on functionality than fashion. Luckily for both of us, this bag covers both! With lots of zippers, and again, a flat-bottom, he should be able to carry all of his important work items and ditch his outdated bag. Or, at least, he can use it as a new camera bag the next time we go up north.

For Drew,

Now, Drew was with me while we were shopping, and things just sort of fell into place. The gifts that I had gotten him off of Amazon arrived in the mail looking a little…different than they had looked online, and I was quite disappointed. It also doesn’t help that he’s been nearly giddy with excitement telling me about how much I’m going to like the gifts that he got me (which I’m sure that I will, he’s an excellent gift-giver). So, while we were searching for gifts for my parents, I was sneakily trying to scope out something I could run back and pick up before Christmas to replace the not-so-high-quality gifts I’d already purchased.

As it happens, Drew was wearing his Fossil watch, which had broken about a year ago. He is someone who wears a watch often, and works a lot with his hands, so the quality of the watch can’t really be faulted. The workers at Fossil offered to either send in the watch to have it repaired or give him an extra 50% off (on TOP of the 60% sale) on a brand new watch. He tried on a couple of new watches, and when he decided on the one he liked the most, I snagged it before he could get his wallet out, told him to forget about it until Christmas, and had it packaged in one of their adorable watch gift-boxes. It may not be a surprise, but at least I know he’ll like it.

When in doubt, go with a gift from the heart. If you pick out something with intention, the odds are that the person you’re gifting will love it, no matter what it is.